Hat form



Feb. 16, 1932. J COPELAND 1,845,076-

HAT FORM Filed NOV. 17, 1928 Patented Feb. 16, 1932 UNITED STATES ROBERT J. COPELAND, 0F TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA HAT FORM 1 Application filed November 17, 1928. Serial 1T0. 320,118. g

The principal objects of this invention are to facilitate the making of ladies hats and to provide a device which will enable persons M to make hats to suit their individual tastes and requirements at the mimmum cost.

The principal feature of the invention consists in the'novel construction of a form on which the hat material is shaped, provided with a plurality of slots through which surplus material is looped'in a manner to facilitate the shaping and securing of the material in permanent form.

A further feature of the invention'consists in the novel construction of a form which may 15? be readily adjusted to various sizes.

In the drawings, Figure 1 1s a perspective view of the simplest form of the invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective v1ew showing the arrangement of an attachment to be used with the form as shown in Figure 1, the hat material being shown thereon.

Figure 3 isa vertical sectional view onehalf showing the manner of looplng the material inwardly through theform shown in Figure 1 and the other half showing the loop ing of the material outwardly through the attachment shown in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a smaller perspectlve view showing a modified form of the form whlch may be adjusted in size.

'55 simple close fitting style which lends itself readily to the use of a standard form for shaping the body portion and the present invention comprises the provision of a stiff dome-shaped form 1 which may be made of thin metal or fibre and is provided with a plurality of longitudinally arranged slots 2 therein which converge slightly toward the crown and rows of perforations 8 are preferably arranged each side of the slots and a '7 circular row of perforations 4 is arranged around the crown of the form.

This simple device provides a form over which a piece of suitable material such as felt, silk or cloth of any kind may beplaced and by pressing the material into and through the slots with a thin instrument such as the blade of a knife it may be formed to the shape of the form. The material may be tacked in position by stitching through the perforations 3 and 4 and the external shape may be varied with folds or flaps as may be desired in creating varietyof appearance.

The surplus material pressed through the slots may be stitched on the inside and then I cut away as desired and the tack stitching then removed afterwhich the seams may be further finished or a lining inserted which may also be formed on the device. I The modification shown in Figure 5 is provided with a fiat top 6 and a rounded cap 7 which may be easily removed is arranged thereon. This arrangement provides for a greater'variety of shapes of hats being made on the form. a

The attachment illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 consists of a plate 8 to which a plurality of thin flexible metal strips 9 are pivotally secured. The strips 9 are formed with longitudinal slots 10 which register with the slots 2 in the form land the free ends of thestrips have threaded stems 11 secured thereto upon which are threaded the thumbnuts 12;

Washers 13 with hook flanges 14 are loosely arranged on the stems and the flanges are adapted to hook under the bottom edge of the form 1 and the thumb nuts draw the strips taut.

In using the'form with the attachment of thin metal strips, the hat material isplaced on'the form 1 with the outer or face side in and the attachmentis placed over it with the slots'in the strips registering with the slots 2 in the form.- A

A thin blunt instrument is then inserted through the slots 2 and the materialis forced out through the slots in the strips drawing the material snugly over the surface of the form. The'strips are then clamped tightly down and the material projecting through the slots may be stitched and trimmed as desired. after which'the attachment is removed and the hat thus formed is reversed.

It may be found desirable to provide forms of the character herein described vwhich may be adjusted for size and a simple arrangement is shown in Figure 4 in which the slots 15, corresponding with the slots 2 in the form 1, are carried through to the bottom edge.

The material used in thin and flexible and when slotted as described the segments may be sprung inward or outward to decrease or increase the diameter.

W'ith this modification of the form a flanged ring 16 is provided with rivets or screws 17 equally spaced apart with their heads spaced from the flange which fits inside the form and the ends of the segments 18 of the form are provided with slots 19 which slip over the shanks of the rivets or screws 17, thus spacing the segments uniformly. Several different sizes of flange rings may be provided to provide the desired mnge of sizes of hats required.

A device such as described may be made at very slight cost and may be possessed by any one desiring to make their own hats and it may of course be used by regular hat makers to advantage.

The possession of such a device will enable a person using spare pieces of cloth or any class of hat material and ladies may therefore readily construct hats to match suits or dresses to their own individual tastes.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A hat form, comprising a stiff domeshaped shell having a plurality of slots arranged longitudinally thereof, and rows of perforations arranged adjacent to said slots.

2. A hat form, comprising a stiff domeshaped shell formed of a plurality of circumferentially spaced segments rigidly connected together and forming a plurality of longitudinally extending slots therebetween, said shell having a flattened top and a rounded cap adapted to be secured to the flattened top.

3. A hat form, comprising a stiff domeshaped shell having a plurality of slots arranged longitudinally thereof. and a plurality of thin, flexible, longitudinally slotted members adapted to be placed over said form.

4. A hat form, comprising a stiff dome shaped shell. having a plurality of slots arranged longitudinally thereof, a plurality of thin, flexible, longitudinally slotted members adaptedto be placed over said form, and means arranged at the ends of said flexible strips for securing them to the form.

5. A hat form, comprising a stiff domeshaped shell having a plurality of slots arranged longitudinally thereof, a plurality of thin, flexible, longitudinally slotted members adapted to be placed over said form, hook members adjustably arranged on the ends of said flexible strips adapted to engage the bottom edge of the form, and nuts threaded on the flexible strips adapted to engage said hook members to tighten said strips.

6. A hat form, comprising a stiff domeshaped shell having a plurality of slots ar- 5 ranged longitudinally thereof, a metal disc adapted to rest centrally on the dome top of said shell, a plurality of thin metal flexible strips pivotally secured at their upper ends to the edge of said disc in circumferentially spaced relation, said strips having longitudinal slots adapted to register with the slots in the hat form, and threaded means secured to the lower ends of said strips for binding them down to the form.

7. A hat form composed of thin sheet material having slots cut through the wall thereof extending longitudinally from the bottom edge to form a plurality of strips rigidly connected at their upper ends and of substantially uniform width, and a rigid annular member engaging and holding said strips rigidly to form a rigid dome-shaped slotted open-ended shell.

8. A hat form, comprising a dome-shaped shell slotted from the bottom edge at substantially uniform distances apart to form a plurality of segments, each of said segments having a slot in its bottom edge substantially central thereof, a flanged rim adapted to receive the bottom edges of said segments, and a plurality of spaced flanged head members secured to said flanged rim adapted to fit into the median slots in said segments to secure them in position on the run.

9. A hat form, comprising a rounded dome portion and a plurality of circumferentially spaced segments rigidly connected at the top to said rounded dome portion and extending therefrom to form a hollow shell, the slots formed between the circumferentially spaced segments being adapted to receive the folds of hat material.

10. A hat form, comprising a hollow unitary thin-Walled shell member having a plurality of longitudinally extending circumferentially spaced slots cut through the thin wall thereof, said slots extending to one end of said shell and forming a plurality of segments, and rigid means engaging said segments at one end for rigidly holding same in a fixed position.

11. A hat form comprising a rigid domeshaped shell free from interior obstruction having longitudinally arranged slots adapted to receive surplus hat material, the surrounding wall of said slots being thin for the purpose of permitting the sewing of the material close to the inner surface of the material covering the shell.

12. A hat form comprising a rigid domeshaped shell formed of thin sheet material and free from interior obstruction having a plurality of slots arranged longitudinally thereof and spaced substantially equidistant therearound, said slots dividing said shell into a plurality of segments each curved in longitudinal and transverse section, said segments being supported at the ends.

ROBERT J. COPELAND. 

